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My Turn: 3 reasons Arizona should keep marijuana illegal

Zimei Ma 6:47 a.m. MST November 28, 2016

ASU student: There are three good reasons not to repurpose Proposition 205 after its defeat.

After reading Joanna Allhands' column, “Proposition 205 died, but it’ll be baaack,” I wanted to express my views on the future of Proposition 205, Arizona’s failed ballot proposition to legalize recreational marijuana like alcohol and tobacco.

In fact, I do not think Prop. 205 should be re-proposed after its defeat, because its potential harm would be greater than its potential good. I’ll provide you three reasons:

1: Marijuana is dangerous

First, I disagree that marijuana is medicine. Therefore, it should not be declassified as a Schedule 1 drug, the designation the FDA gives substances without official accepted medical use in the United States and with high potential for abuse.

Indeed, marijuana helps to ease pain, especially for neuropathic pain. However, no matter how marijuana helps people to relieve the stress, it is still harmful to people. The National Institute on Drug Abuse website describes that, “Frequent marijuana users often report irritability, mood and sleep difficulties, decreased appetite, cravings, restlessness, and/or various forms of physical discomfort that peak within the first week after quitting and last up to 2 weeks.”

Also, people will get into the habit of smoking marijuana. According to research from the National Institutes of Health website, “9 percent of people who use marijuana will become dependent on it, rising to about 17 percent in those who start using young (in their teens).”

2: Teen use gets out of control

Second, in comparing marijuana to alcohol and tobacco, when teenagers are exposed to alcohol abuse it often gets out of control. When marijuana is made legal for recreational use, teenagers are very likely to abuse it and get out of control.

It is generally known that most teenagers have trouble controlling themselves with anything. The NIH shows 52.7 percent people between ages 18 to 25 smoked marijuana in 2015. Rebelliousness and curiosity are the common phenomenon during adolescence. Teenagers will use any ways to get what they want. If marijuana is not controlled by government, the percentage of smoking marijuana will be increased, which causes more teenagers to get hurt.

3: Possession should be a felony

Third, I support marijuana offenses to continue to be treated as felonies. Marijuana is the same as alcohol and tobacco in that both are harmful to people. Whereas, the disadvantages of marijuana are not only physical, but mental.

My friend told me he thought he would die and felt his body did not belong to him when he first smoked marijuana. Besides, marijuana made him hyperactive and caused illusions. The website called NIDA for TEENS (National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens) writes, “Marijuana indeed makes users perceive themselves as having more creative thoughts and ideas,” and “In fact, the research on cannabis and creativity suggests that even if users feel more creative, it’s actually an illusion. People may even be less creative after using it.”

If people drive when they smoke marijuana, they may cause serious accidents in the same way they do driving under the influence of alcohol. DUI is a felony charge if the driver causes a serious accident, especially one that leads to death.

Zimei Ma is a junior at Arizona State University majoring in business law. She is from China.